This invention is directed to improvements in supporting portable computers for use outside an office area where there is no table space available.
The invention discloses a novel concept of enabling busy executives, lawyers, traveling salesmen, etc., and any other person who must travel extensively, to have a convenient manner of supporting their computer without trying to hold it on their lap.
Trying to sit and balance a laptop computer, some weighing in excess of 15 pounds, can become very uncomfortable over a short period of time. While balancing a laptop on your legs and trying to reach for papers, talk on the phone, or making any sudden movement, your laptop could fall off your lap and cause damage to the computer, loss of valuable information, or bodily injury. Once seated with your laptop on your legs, it becomes very difficult to move around without first finding a safe and convenient place to secure your laptop.
A study of the prior art reveals a multitude of support trays, folding tables, etc. adapted for variable uses, yet none show a device so simple in design and adaptable to use as disclosed in this application. Representative patents include the following:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,331 which shows a tray for attachment to a beach chair via Velcro fasteners or clamps;
2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,266 which shows carrying case for a computer that when set up allows the computer screen to be supported at a correct angle for use;
3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,374 which shows a foldable foot rest which can be attached to a piece of luggage;
4. U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,604 which shows a suitcase having legs which fold out from the bottom portion of the bag for use in supporting the luggage in a table-like position;
5. European Patent application No. 0 050 728 shows a platform which can be arranged within a suitcase using a hook fitted into a specially formed groove and an external lug to support the platform for us;
6. British Patent No. 4666 which is for a foldable combined table and chair that becomes a piece of carry luggage when folded;
7. French Patent No. 2,689,734 which shows an easel-like attachment for a brief case which can be moved between a folded away position and an extended for use position;
8. German patent publication OS 2933595 which shows a seat hinged to the side of a piece of luggage and having a fold out leg support.
The invention discloses a pair of embodiments for providing a computer table attachable to a piece of luggage standing in an upright position upon which a portable computer may be supported for typing use.
In one embodiment there is revealed a simple flat custom-designed piece of ABS plastic with a foldable portion adapted to be received in a cavity in the flat plastic tray. In this embodiment the tray is thinner in overall thickness than in the second embodiment. In the second embodiment the tray is fitted with a fixed upstanding rib member rather than one which may be folded away. In both embodiments a further but shorter rib is provided at the opposite end of the tray to insure that a computer does not just slide off the tray while the tray is in use.
The tray is particularly useful with the type of luggage which many persons are purchasing today (generically known as roll-on luggage) for quickly moving from taxis to airports for travel to the airplane as well as to train stations. Substantially all of the luggage manufactured today has an extensible as well as retractable pull handle feature so that the luggage may be pulled to the departure point and placed in an overhead rack, thereby making it unnecessary to wait for it to be returned to the owner at their arrival point. The manufacturers of these pieces of luggage, which are also provided with rollers or small wheels, encase the luggage on its exterior with attractive coverings, all of which have one or more zippered pockets, any one of which is capable of encompassing the flat tray revealed and claimed hereinafter.
It is therefore the principle object of the present invention to provide a novel tray member particularly adaptable for use with laptop computers by the owners of wheeled drag-along luggage which is pulled by a handle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a temporary table that is light in weight and easily stowed in one""s luggage.
It is yet another object of the present invention that the tray can be held in a position for use at close to an optimum position.
It is still another object of the present invention that the tray can be installed in a position for use easily.
It is yet another object of the present invention that the tray can hold a computer in a secure position for use that does not create undue risk of the computer being dropped.
Other objects and advantages will become obvious to those skilled in the art upon a review of the drawings, specification and claims.